12 February 2011

Johannesburg, South Africa - The third and final day of the Africa Tobacco Situational Analyses (ATSA) meeting on February 4 enabled participants to reflect and comment on the outcomes of the presentations, discussions, and activities they engaged in throughout the consultation. In addition to sharing key findings from the ATSA projects, the South Africa meeting focused on identifying existing opportunities on the continent to facilitate the implementation of tobacco control policies, as well as coordination mechanisms to mobilize the various resources required to implement strategies. Results from the situational analyses showed participants that credible tobacco control initiatives were underway, and that progress had been made in important tobacco control measures in recent years. Country-level policy change dealt primarily with bans on advertisement and promotion, and the establishment of smoke-free places. Other critical policy interventions, such as the uptake of pictorial health warnings and the increase of tobacco taxes, were addressed by only a few countries. Important cross-cutting issues were also identified, exposing some of the common challenges faced by the tobacco control community in Africa. Those issues included: capacity-building, for civil society advocates and key decision-makers involved in tobacco control policies; increasing demand, funding, and scholarly involvement in tobacco control research; the importance of continuously providing evidence-based information to policy-makers for successful advocacy. The need to incorporate new strategies within other health-related issues was also highlighted. As an illustration, smoking is strongly related to tuberculosis (TB) and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 20% of global TB incidence may be attributable to smoking. Tobacco monitoring and evaluation was also clearly identified as a priority, not only in relation to policy implementation and expenditure accountability, but also in the surveillance of tobacco industry interference. Important lessons were drawn from the individual country experiences shared at this meeting. For example, it was determined that strategies specific to Africa were needed to secure the implementation of FCTC compliant tobacco control policies on a continent marked by constantly changing political environments. With 100 representatives from 29 African countries in attendance, the meeting was an excellent illustration of the important role of increased collaboration, cooperation, and coordination between tobacco control advocates on the continent, a necessity that the ACS-led Africa Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC) hopes to address through its activities and programs. The meeting was officially concluded with an address by Dr. Stella Anyangwe, WHO’s representative for South Africa. She congratulated participants for “an invaluable meeting that allowed all partners to understand their core competencies and comparative strengths and advantages,” adding that “this meeting should be used as a foundation for future similar collaboration and cooperation.”

08 February 2011

Paris, France — On January 27, The American Cancer Society took part in the Global G8/G20 Working Group. The planning meeting of international civil society is organized by Coordination SUD, a coalition of 130 French non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This year’s summits will take place in France, with the G8 to be held in Deauville May 26-27 and the G20 in Cannes November 3-4. Civil society hopes to influence the summits and prompt the Working Group to share information, pool intelligence, agree on policy strategies, and lay groundwork for coordinated global campaigns and advocacy initiatives in 2011. The Working Group meeting sets forth an ambitious agenda for the G8 and G20 summits and encourages leaders to attend the events and deliver concrete outcomes to help end poverty, stop climate change, promote human rights, and address health issues. Organizations participating in this year’s meeting included Oxfam America, Global Health Council, GAVI Alliance, PATH, Greenpeace International, One France, Save the Children UK, Family Care International, Interaction, and others.

A record number of 130 participants joined the G8/G20 Working Group meeting in Paris.

The Working Group had the opportunity to hear French priorities from the hosts of the summit. Sous Sherpa Christian Masset, Director-General of Global Affairs and Foreign Development, noted France’s focus on the G8’s follow-up to existing commitments including common deficits, security, partnerships with Africa, and the Muskoka Initiative for maternal and child health. On the G20 front, the French government will target global monitoring systems, volatility of price commodities, global governance, and the development of infrastructure and food security. The America Cancer Society added NCD language to the Working Group’s common lobbying position. The Society is also working in partnership with other NGOs to advocate for the inclusion of health topics---specifically NCDs---at the G8 Summit.

Guests included delegates from nine UN missions including Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Norway, Panama, the Philippines, and Spain. The mission representative from Argentina also attended; that nation presides over the G77, a caucus organization which helps developing countries pursue common goals to leverage in UN deliberations.

04 February 2011

At this Hour the Empire State Building will Illuminate the Need for Global Cancer Control

Cancer is the leading cause of death around the world and kills more people than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. (WHO, 2007) The global burden is rising and, without action, the poorest countries will witness the largest increase in deaths. Each year on February 4, the American Cancer Society supports the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) by promoting ways to ease the global cancer burden, with prevention as the perennial theme. To mark the occasion, the Empire State Building will glow orange and blue – the colors of World Cancer Day – for the first time. The Society chose the New York City landmark to herald an unprecedented global meeting on cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

A Historic Summit

The United Nations Summit on NCDs will assemble in September to address the collective threat posed by cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases. Together, these illnesses account for 35 million deaths every year, with 80% of cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The ACS, along with global partners and the NCD Alliance, supported the UN resolution to hold this historic meeting. The NCD Alliance is comprised of the International Diabetes Federation, World Heart Foundation, the Union for International Cancer Control, and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases. When leaders gathered in Davos last week for the World Economic Forum, they echoed the NCD Summit's message that 2011 must be a turning point for NCDs. These diseases cause more than 60% of the world's deaths, yet they receive less than 3% of private and public funding and are not yet on the global health agenda.

A report released today by the ACS shows that cancers such as lung and breast cancer, which are more common in developed countries, are now on the rise in limited-resources settings and will continue to increase unless preventive measures are taken immediately. 7.6 million people died worldwide of cancer in 2008 and, according to the report, increases in global population and longevity will raise that number to an estimated 13.2 million deaths by 2030. Among the highlights in the report:

With the focus on prevention, the Union for International Cancer Control launched a five-year campaign on World Cancer Day 2007. The campaign encourages parents to share these healthy behaviors with children, possibly preventing more than 40% of cancers later in life:

03 February 2011

Johannesburg, South Africa - On February 2, representatives from 29 African countries gathered for a second day of discussions at the Africa Tobacco Situational Analyses (ATSA) meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting, featuring key reports from ATSA country projects, sparked stimulating debates and allowed participants to exchange valuable information. Morning presentations focused on the meeting partners’ diverse initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa, notably the strategies developed by the World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative, which strive to close the capacity gaps in tobacco control on the continent. The meeting also presented a comprehensive picture of the African Tobacco Control Consortium’s (ATCC) objectives and projects. These centered on the development, implementation, protection, and integration of policies designed to reduce tobacco use and exposure in Africa. Researchers from the Universities of Cape Town and Pretoria also presented their most recent initiatives, undertaken in collaboration with the American Cancer Society. These endeavors aim to build capacity on the economics of tobacco control and to support promising students across Africa, encouraging them to contribute to priority policy areas. To fully address the topic of tobacco control research in Africa, participants spent ample time discussing current perspectives related to this issue. Breakout groups focused on topics such as establishing concrete priority research themes and methodological challenges as well as identifying opportunities for collaboration with researchers at the national and regional levels. Bridging gaps between research and advocacy actors was also discussed. To wrap up these discussions on research and capacity-building, Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, vice president of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, concluded this second day by presenting relevant data on the cancer burden in Africa, the recent changes in the epidemiology of the disease on the continent, and the challenges and opportunities for prevention associated with common risk factors. These findings are the subject of a special section on cancer in Africa in Global Cancer Facts & Figures, 2nd edition, to be released on Friday, February 4.

02 February 2011

Johannesburg, South Africa - February 1 2011 marked the opening of the three-day Africa Tobacco Situational Analyses (ATSA) Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, organized by the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization Tobacco Free Initiative (WHO/TFI), in partnership with the University of Cape Town School of Economics and the University of Pretoria School of Dentistry, and with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. More than 100 representatives of the African tobacco control community gathered to discuss the work undertaken by the ATSA country teams over the past years, using this opportunity to examine progress and discuss current issues and challenges related to the fight against tobacco on the continent. South African Director General of Health, Malebona Precious Matsoso, inaugurated the meeting by speaking about current tobacco control policy initiatives in South Africa and other recent achievements, using the example of how smoking was given a “red card” during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, and was banned from all stadiums. She also talked about the opportunities for the rest of the continent to move forward with the primary prevention of tobacco consumption, highlighting that “the challenge is to keep the prevalence of tobacco use low, despite the fact that the African continent —with its 700 million people, half of whom are under 16 — provides a great market for tobacco companies." Representatives of the ATSA initiative reported on the results of their analyses and advocacy efforts, shared important lessons learned from their work, and discussed the challenges other countries can anticipate with similar undertakings and related recommendations. Common themes were identified among different countries, such as the difficulty of reconciling tobacco control with the economic livelihood that exists in relation to tobacco farmers in countries like Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia; the advantages of establishing realistic objectives within countries, such as focusing on smoke-free laws at the sub-national (state or municipal) levels; the advocacy opportunities revealed by “political mapping” analyses; the importance of working with the media to raise public awareness and actively involve government agencies; and challenges in engaging countries’ legislatures for the adoption of policies compliant with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). During the afternoon, break-out groups encouraged discussion based on country case studies on taxation, graphic health warnings, smoke free spaces, advertisement bans, and partnerships between civil society and governments. This first day was a great opportunity for many of the participants to establish new relationships with their colleagues from the continent, who enthusiastically shared their respective experiences on how their work had allowed them to gain a better understanding of the processes that create or hinder windows of opportunity for tobacco control in Africa.

From left to right: Jacqui Drope, Director of Tobacco Control at ACS; Patricia Lambert, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Ms Malebona Precious Matsoso, South African Director General of Health; Dr. Stella Anyangwe, WHO representative for South Africa and Zanele Mthembu, Consultant for American Cancer Society.

Ms Malebona Precious Matsoso, South African Director General of Health